


300 Page Interrogation

by boredom



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Crushes, Cute, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 22:16:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18375158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredom/pseuds/boredom
Summary: Thace has a crush on Ulaz. Shiro wants to make sure Thace is the best match for Ulaz. Ulaz is ignorant of this whole thing (or maybe not). Antok is sadistic. Kolivan is confused. And Keith just wants to keep chewing on Thace's hair.





	300 Page Interrogation

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: I’m not really sure how this whole thing is supposed to play out, maybe I’ll come up with a more concrete story later. But essentially, Ulaz adopted Shiro and Keith (who aren’t related). Shiro is around eight or nine and Keith is around a year old, maybe a bit more because I have no idea what developmental milestones babies hit at what time. Ulaz and Thace are still part of the Blades but I’m not sure how Voltron or Zarkon play a role in it. Enjoy.

Thace was an adult. He was an adult who did adult things like pay bills and go grocery shopping for vegetables even when he really wanted to eat junk food. He was an adult with a job that dealt with adult things and a life that was filled with, ahem, adult activities. Which is why he was so ashamed to admit that he had a crush. 

An honest to god teenager’s crush on a certain white-haired doctor who had the most endearing smile and wonderful laugh. A crush that had him smiling like an idiot whenever Ulaz sat next to him at the cafeteria, or laughed at his jokes, or generally existed at any point in time. 

Thace loved being around Ulaz and dreamed of asking him out on a proper date. He loved and cherished their friendship, yes, but he also yearned for something more. There were just two problems. 1)How could Thace possibly know if Ulaz felt the same way? He didn’t want to ruin their friendship because of an unrequited love. And 2) Ulaz’s kids. 

More specifically, Shiro, since Keith could only babble and occasionally make sounds that sounded vaguely like words. Ulaz loved those kids and Thace rather liked them as well, but Shiro seemed to be highly suspicious of Thace and spent a good amount of time glaring at him in a way that was supposed to be intimidating. However, given Shiro’s tiny stature and lack of claws and fangs never came across as legitimate. 

Thace had never tried to date someone with kids so he didn’t know how to go about it. He thought about asking for help from his friends, but Antok was up to something and the rest of them were useless so he was relegated to staring at Ulaz longingly from across the room and sighing dramatically like a heroine in a romance novel. 

Ulaz did not make the situation any easier. “Thace, are you listening to me?” 

He did not make the situation any easier because he had just invited Thace over to his place after work in a way that could be considered a date, but also probably was not. 

“Thace?”

“Hm, yeah, I’m listening to you,” Thace said, trying not to focus on the fact that he and Ulaz were practically touching elbows. 

“So, what you think?” Ulaz’s eyes were narrowed and he was looking at him the same way he looked at patients who were lying about their conditions. 

“Yeah, yes, I am happy to come over tonight.” He paused and then realized he was missing a key piece of information. “Why am I coming over tonight?” 

Ulaz’s eyes narrowed. “Did you hit your head during training today?” 

Crap, he needed to figure out a way to not arouse suspicion. He couldn’t let his crush come to light now! “No, no, I haven’t been sleeping well lately. That’s all.” 

Ulaz leaned forward and pressed the back of his hand to his forehead and then his cheek and neck. “Hm, you do feel warm, but it doesn’t feel like you have a fever.” 

He was probably warm because all the blood had rushed to his head. Thankfully, his fur was thick enough that no one saw the blush that had no doubt spread across his face. 

“Maybe you should go home and rest instead,” Ulaz said, turning back to his book. 

And miss out on spending time together? Not a chance! 

“No, no!” Shit, he sounded too panicked. That was going to attract suspicion as well. He cleared his throat. “I mean, you still haven’t told me why you wanted to meet up after work in the first place.” 

“Oh, right.” Ulaz rummaged around his bag and pulled out a data pad with a very boring looking report pulled up on the screen. “I wanted to go through this with you and make sure I didn’t miss anything before I turn it into Kolivan.” 

Ah, work related stuff. That was as unromantic as it got. He felt disappointed. Then he reminded himself that should he want to go on a non-work related outing with Ulaz, he should just ask him. Then he reminded himself that that was a bad idea and could completely ruin their relationship and he would rather have a friendship than no relationship at all. 

“Yeah, I’ll look over it with you. But you’re usually pretty good about these sorts of things.” 

Ulaz blushed and turned away. “Ah, well, ever since Shiro and Keith, things have been a bit more hectic.” 

“Those two do look like a handful. I’ll bring some alcohol.” He was going to need it if he was to spend hours proofreading an end of month medical report. 

“Nothing too strong.” Ulaz cautioned. 

Thace spent the next four hours of the workday stressing about the perfect wine to bring over, what he should wear, and whether or not flowers would be too over-the-top.

oOoOoOo

He decided a hard no on the flowers. He also was held up by Kolivan so he didn’t have a chance to get to his quarters to shower and change. He sniffed himself. He didn’t smell terrible, no worse than at lunch. Hopefully Ulaz wouldn’t be offended by the fact that he was still in his uniform. 

The wine was also not what he had decided on earlier. The store was all sold out of what he had originally chosen. This night was shaping up to be great! Just great. 

He knocked on the door and waited. What if he got the time wrong? No, he hadn’t because he and Ulaz hadn’t decided on a time. 

What if he got the date wrong? No, Ulaz had specified that he wanted him to come over tonight. 

What if he had shown up too late and Ulaz was already asleep?

The door slid open to reveal Shiro, looking at sullen as ever, glaring at Thace. 

“Um, hi. How are you, Shiro?” 

“Dad’s busy getting Keith ready for bed.” He turned and walked into the tiny family quarters provided to those with kids. He didn’t explicitly invite Thace in, but he did leave the door open. 

He stepped inside. “Thanks. How’s school going?” 

Shiro shrugged and picked up a book. This was one of the weirder things about Shiro. He seemed perfectly fine with Thace when they first met. He warmed up to him instantly and was one of the only Blades he was comfortable leaving Keith with. Over the past few weeks, however, he had started to become more withdrawn and cold towards him. Thace struggled to figure out what had changed and he could never get a straight answer from the boy. 

“Thace, glad you could make it.” 

Ulaz in civilian clothes looked even better than Ulaz in his work uniform. Then again, Ulaz would probably look great in anything he put on. 

“Sorry I’m late. Kolivan had some things to discuss.” It was miraculous that his tongue managed to work and his brain manage to come up with some sort of coherent sentence.” 

“Goodness, if he keeps you late regularly, it’s no wonder you’re tired.” 

If Thace was a perfect soldier, he would assure Ulaz that their leader had not made a habit of keeping him late and this was a rare occurrence. He would assure Ulaz that Kolivan fully understood the concept of work-life balance and it was nothing to worry about. 

However, Ulaz was wearing a shirt with a wide collar and it was showing of his collar bones and Thace was more than a little distracted. Could you blame him?

“Uh-huh.” He managed to stutter out. 

Ulaz turned his attention to Shiro. “Come on, time for bed.” He wiped the boy’s face with a wet washcloth.

“Ah, but I’m getting to the good part.” Despite his whining, Shiro slid off the chair.

“That’s the great thing about books, they don’t disappear when you sleep. Brush your teeth.” 

Shiro shuffled towards the bathroom. 

“Shiro, leave the book.” 

He shuffled back into the kitchen, put the book down, and shuffled back to the bathroom. 

“I swear.”

Thace snorted. “Like you’re any better.” 

“Shh, I don’t want him to hear you,” Ulaz hissed. “Give it a few more years before he realizes I am not infallible. Now, shall we get started.” 

Thace held up a bottle of wine. “Yep, let’s have at it.”

They spent the next few hours combing through the report. Actually, they spent about thirty minutes combing through the report and the next few hours talking about anything and everything. Ulaz got up a few times to check on the kids and Thace used those moments to regain his self-control. He also spent a fair amount of time thinking that he wouldn’t mind doing this every night. 

The bottle had been emptied and Ulaz was getting more and more tactile, letting his hand rest on Thace’s thigh and leaning into him more as the night went on. 

“Shiro has taken a liking to Antok,” Ulaz said. 

“Antok’s up to something, mark my words.” Thace had noticed Antok and Shiro being secretive lately. 

“I’m sure it’s harmless. I do worry about Shiro at school, though. Sometimes I worry if it would be better to give him and Keith to a human parent.” 

This little sliver of doubt often poked through when Ulaz talked about the kids for any length of time. Thace knew now how to soften it. “You’re doing fine. No parent is perfect. Besides, there are plenty of parents who raise kids of a different race than them. Shiro and Keith are better off with you now, than in some alley waiting for a random human to show up.” 

He smiled and squeezed Thace’s hand. Thace tried to not spontaneously combust. 

“Thank you. Sorry for bringing this up so often. I’m sure you don’t want to listen to me ramble on about my children."

Before Thace could assure him everything was fine and he could listen to Ulaz ramble on about anything, Ulaz looked up at the clock. “Shit, is that the time? Oh, god, I am so sorry Thace. It’s way past curfew.” 

After one o’clock, all soldiers had to be in a sleeping room, either their’s or someone else’s unless they were on some sort of night duty. It was now one thirty and should Thace be found wandering around the halls intoxicated, he could get arrested. 

“Are you opposed to me staying here?” This was not a proposition. He legitimately couldn’t leave unless it was an emergency. 

Ulaz looked at him, relieved. “No, not at all. I am so sorry.” 

“It’s not a big deal. I’ve slept on plenty of couches before, one night won’t kill me.” 

“What?” Ulaz looked offended. “You’re not sleeping on the couch. You’ll take my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.” 

Good, now they were arguing over who got to take the bed and who got to take the couch. Thace almost suggested they could share a bed, but decided he did not want to test himself that much. “Ulaz, this is your home, you take the bed.” 

“I’m the one who invited you here and lost track of time.”

Ulaz was stubborn and they could probably argue for another hour. So, Thace decided to play a trump card. 

“What if one of the kids needs you and comes into your room? I’m not saying I can’t comfort them, but I think they would prefer you.” 

Ulaz opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it. “Bastard.”

“At your service. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for bed.” 

“At least let me get you some clothes.” He kissed his cheek and went to his room. 

Oh good, the torture continued. It was only thanks to the laws of physics and biology that Thace didn’t literally explode. The kiss just about made him lose his mind, however. Ulaz’s clothes smelled like him and they were soft and warm and Thace wondered if it would be weird to “accidently” keep the shirt, at the very least. Still, he was tired, the couch wasn’t that uncomfortable, and he would have a clearer mind in the morning. 

oOoOoOo

Thace was a highly trained soldier with years of experience. Which meant that he knew the difference between waking naturally and waking because something was inherently wrong. And some was inherently wrong. He kept his eyes closed for a few more minutes and took a scan of the room. He could only smell himself, Ulaz, Shiro, and Keith, so no one had infiltrated. 

He was being watched, though the intruder wasn’t very quiet as Thace could hear his breathing. He determined that it was probably one of the kids watching him and opened his eyes. Sure enough, Shiro was sitting across from him, his hands clasped on top of the coffee table with a data pad and glass of milk in front of him. Keith sounded like he was up as well, babbling in the background quietly. 

Thace was hungover from the night before. His headache was making everything fuzzy and he did not want to deal with Shiro. “Hey, buddy, what’s up?” 

His neck was also hurting from sleeping on it wrong and god he was getting old. He mourned the days when he could fall asleep anywhere and wake up feeling refreshed. Why did he not cherish his youth more?

“Do you want to have sex with my dad?” 

Thace blinked. He had heard the question correctly he was pretty sure. “It is way too early to deal with this.” 

Shiro leaned over and typed something on the pad. Keith stood up and started toddling around behind him. “Because you didn’t immediately answer no, I am going to assume that is a yes.” 

What exactly was he supposed to say to that? ‘Yeah kid, I want to pound your dad into the mattress and make him scream with pleasure to the point where he forgets his own name’? Ulaz would kill him if he told Shiro that and Thace felt uncomfortable talking to a child about this topic. He also felt that he wasn’t going to be able to lie his way out of this one. 

“Um, I would like to court your dad and have a healthy and loving relationship with him, yes.” 

“Correct.” Shiro typed something into the data pad. “Next question--”

“Wait, there are more questions?” 

Shiro glared at him and typed something else into the pad. “Don’t interrupt me. It will be noted in the interrogation notes.” 

Oh, fuck no. Shiro was interrogating him. This morning was getting worse by the moment. 

Thace sat up and yawned. “Noted. Can I get some coffee first?” 

Shiro scrolled through the pad, biting his lip and looking puzzled. “No, as a prisoner of interest, it is important that I keep your mind clear of… ca-, caffen so that all responses are truthful and an honest re-flec-tion of your opinions.” 

Now Thace understood what Antok and Shiro were discussing all those times. Antok was fucking with him and probably laughing his ass off right now. Thace could stand up and get some coffee, but given Shiro’s first question, this was likely to be all about him and Ulaz’s relationship and he did need to have the kids on his side if he had a chance of making this work. So he decided to play along. 

“Alright, fine. What’s your next question?” 

Shiro took a drink of milk and glared at Thace some more. “I’ll be asking the questions around here.” 

“Fine, I won’t ask anymore questions.” 

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” 

Keith came over to Thace and gestured that he wanted to be picked up, so Thace obliged him and started bouncing the baby on his knee. ‘At least you won’t be able to interrogate me for a few more years.’ he thought to himself.

“You ask my dad out on a date and he says yes. Where do you take him?” The question came out stilted as Shrio stumbled over the words. Antok probably helped him come up with the questionnaire and Thace prayed all the rest were child-appropriate. 

“Um, I’d probably take him to a cafe and then a park. Somewhere casual.” 

“Not somewhere fancy?” 

“Kid, do you think your dad would like to go to a ritzy restaurant where he has to dress up and wear fancy clothes?” 

Shiro looked thoughtful. “Agreed. It is my dad’s birthday. Do you give him A) a new book he hasn’t read; B) A sword; or C) A fancy bowl to put your keys in but doesn’t serve much of a purpose since no one puts their keys in it.” 

Keith decided that he no longer wanted to be on Thace’s knee and instead clambered up onto his shoulders and started pulling at his hair. Thace held onto the boy and tried to comprehend the answer choices he had been given. 

“I’m sorry, why is a sword one of the options?” 

“Because Keith wanted a sword to be one of the options.” Shiro answered, as if his brother could talk. If Keith could form complex, coherent sentences, then this was news to Thace and probably Ulaz as well since he spent last week about how Keith almost managed to say dada. 

“And the key bowl?” 

“Uncle Antok said that all adults have them but even though they have them, no one uses them and it’s a gift that adults give each other to trick each other into thinking their adults.” 

He wondered if Antok was messing with him or if this was an actual rant he had that Shiro happened to hear. 

“I give him a book. He likes to read and if those are my only options, I go for a book.” 

Keith stopped pulling on Thace’s hair and instead started to chew on it. 

“Okay, next question.”

Thace had to admit, Shiro was going to make a great interrogator one day because damn was that kid relentless. They spent three hours talking about anything and everything. That coupled with Thace trying to keep Keith from killing himself by licking a socket and the lack of coffee and the hangover meant that Shiro was doing a great job getting answers out of him. Even if he wasn’t nearly as menacing or hard-hitting as an actual interrogator would be. 

A diaper change and about four hundred questions later, Thace was getting tired and wanted this whole thing to stop. He saw his opening when Shiro’s stomach started to rumble. 

“Next question--”

“Shiro, I know you want to make sure I’m a good match for your dad, but I was actually planning on making breakfast for you guys.” 

Shiro looked up. “Breakfast?” 

“Yeah, that thing you normally eat in the morning.”

“I know what breakfast is. But you really wanted to make it for us?” 

It was one of Thace’s secret fantasies to make breakfast for Ulaz, maybe something like strawberry pancakes or something, but he hadn’t been planning on making it today. Mostly because he hadn’t been planning on spending the night. 

“Yep, now let’s get Keith fed and then you can help me. I’m sure your dad would appreciate it.” 

“Okay! I like to help in the kitchen.” Shiro raced off towards the kitchen and Thace took a quick look at the data pad. 

Good lord, there were over three hundred pages of questions left. Was Antok trying to kill him?

They ended up making scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon. Thace wasn’t sure what Ulaz’s rules on sugar were, but didn’t want to step on any toes by feeding the kid what was essentially dessert for breakfast. 

They had finished plating it when Ulaz burst from his room. “Oh my god, I slept so late. Have Keith and Shiro eaten?” 

“Relax, Laz, Shiro and I are finishing up breakfast.” Thace assured him, setting the plates down at the table. 

“You made breakfast?” 

“Yeah! Thace let me scramble the eggs!” Shiro said, showing off the plates to him. 

“Wow, great job.” Ulaz caught his eye. 

“Don’t worry, didn’t let him near the stove when it was on.” 

They sat down and had a pleasant breakfast. More eggs and toast seemed to end up on Keith than in him, but Ulaz didn’t seem worried as the kid smeared the eggs over the little table and slam his spoon repeatedly into a glass of milk. 

“Thank you. I feel like I’ve been a bad host,” Ulaz said after they had cleaned up. 

“No, this was fun. I’m glad. We should do it again.” 

“Yeah. See you at work?” 

“Yep.” 

It would have been the perfect moment to ask him out on a proper date, but the baby started crying and Shiro was calling for him, so Ulaz turned and closed the door before Thace could ask. 

oOoOoOo

The next morning, Thace came into the small break room to see Kolivan and Antok at the table. 

“Fuck you, you bastard,” he said, fully aware that cursing out his superior was grounds for dishonorable discharge. 

“Lieutenant!” Kolivan exclaimed. 

Antok started laughing. “Had a good weekend?” 

“Ulaz is going to kill you when he finds out what you had Shiro do.” 

“Can someone explain to me what is going on?” Kolivan’s usual gruff demeanor didn’t dissuade Thace from giving Antok a piece of his mind. 

Antok snorted. “The kid came to me asking for help. I provided said help. Now tell me, what question did you get to before you cracked?” 

“The one about how much space I was allowed to have once Ulaz and I started sharing a closet.”

“Damn, you got all the way to that question? You must love Ulaz.”

“What question? What is going on?” 

“Why did you make him ask me to go through every single insect and whether or not I was afraid of it?” 

“I am about to court martial someone if they don’t explain what is going on!” Kolivan threw his arms in the air. 

Thace and Antok were still ignoring him. 

Thace was about to argue even more with Antok when the door slid open. 

They both snapped their mouths such upon seeing Ulaz walk in looking very nervous. 

“Um, Thace, could I talk to you for a second?” 

Thace felt like his mouth had been stuffed full of sand. “Um, yeah. Sure, I can talk. I’m cool to talk. Love talking.”

“Smooth,” Antok muttered.

Thace elbowed him and followed Ulaz out the door. He thought he heard Antok say “Go get laid,” but could never confirm that. 

Once outside, Ulaz shifted and pushed non-existent hair behind his ear, a nervous habit he had picked up when his hair had been longer. 

“Is everything okay?” Now Ulaz was starting to scare him. He hoped it was nothing serious.

“Oh, yes, I just wanted to ask you something I didn’t get a chance to yesterday. 

“Ah, um, yeah, ask away.” 

“Well, I, um, I want to first let you know that no matter your answer, I will respect it and I will understand if you wish to cut contact with me completely so don’t feel pressured or anything to answer on account of my feelings and I really just want you to feel comfortable which is probably why I’ve put off asking for so long but I’ve decided to just go for it and I just really don’t want to make anything awkward and--”

“Ulaz, you’re rambling.” Thace said. He was getting nervous. The hopeful side of him was desperate to hear the question he had been longing to hear for so long. The pragmatic side of him told him not to get his hopes up because there was a good chance they would be crushed. 

Ulaz squared his shoulders. “Right. Do you want to go out on a romantic date with me.” 

“You had to specify that it’s romantic?” The words spilled out of Thace’s mouth before he could stop him. He should have screamed out yes and hugged Ulaz tightly, not argue semantics. 

“I want to make sure it isn’t mistaken for a friendship date.”

“Do people go on friendship dates?”

“Thace!” 

“Right, sorry, sorry, I’m kind of nervous because I really want to date you but I thought you weren’t interested so I’ve been convincing myself that I’ve been reading too much into things you were doing and even now I was hoping you were asking me on a romantic date but I kept reminding myself that maybe you weren’t and it’s kind of a dick move to expect to be asked out on a date and then disappointed when you don’t ask me on a date and--”

“Oh my god, quit rambling and have dinner already!” Antok shouted from behind the closed door. 

Ulaz turned a bright shade of red upon realizing that their leader and his second in command could hear them. Thace couldn’t see his own face, but given the temperature, he figured he was also blushing. 

“Um, yeah, so dinner,” Ulaz said, biting his lip and grinning. 

“Yeah, how about tonight?” 

“Tonight would be wonderful.” 

Kolivan and Antok watched Keith and Shiro for the night. Thace did get to hear Ulaz screaming with pleasure as he forgot his name and made strawberry pancakes in the morning. Years later, Ulaz found out about Shiro’s interrogation and was mortified. Shiro was too, to his credit and Thace finally managed to get through the remaining three hundred pages of questions. The last question was “how will you propose to Ulaz”. That evening, he gave Ulaz a book he had never read before. A book answering all of the relevant questions Shiro had and had wanted to ask him. On the last page he wrote “Will you marry me?” Three days later, Ulaz burst into his office, book clutched in his hand, and said “Yes!” No stuttering or rambling in sight.

**Author's Note:**

> Rubymoon_Snape has turned me into DOM trash so thanks for that. You've ruined my life.


End file.
